The Bank of Uganda (BoU) has issued a directive to authenticate all digital transactions that are over one million Ugandan shillings ($260).
All users sending at or above the limit will be required to provide a government-issued ID to complete the transaction.
Details
On April 19, 2024, the BoU issued this directive through X’s account following a spike in digital payments fraud.
“Mobile money systems have occasionally been targeted for cybercrime by agents working with criminals“, says part of the message.
Digging deeper
The BoU said in compliance with Article 55(1)b thereof National Payment Systems Act, 2020and Regulation 7(h) of the National Payment Systems (Agents) Regulations, 2021, all financial transactions pertaining to Ugx. 1,000,000 [$260] or more conducted at authorized dealer locations and operator centers on digital financial services platforms must be completed after the holder’s identity has been verified.
The verification, mentioned in the BoU, should be done using a valid national ID or passport for Ugandans, a refugee ID card/letter of confirmationthe alien identity card for foreigners who lives in the East African country.
Repel
Some say the move will bring many challenges and slow down business as many citizens in the country they don’t have identity cards.
Other experts say the directive could lead to a “risk of forgery with national IDs”.
Zoom out
Uganda plans to start mass registration of citizens for new generation biometric national identity cards in June.
Source: Biometric Update
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